Building a wall with concrete floors doesn't have to involve a nail gun.
For those with a concrete basement floor, figuring out exactly how to build a wall, without using an impact nail gun, can be a fairly daunting logistical challenge. But there's a fairly easy way to float a wall with simple adhesives, and without the normally required tools.
- Chalk line
- 2-by-4s
- 3 1/2-inch nails
- Hammer
- Level
- Pencil
- Liquid nails
- Drill
- 1/2-inch drill bit
- 10-inch spikes
Snap a chalk line along the ceiling where you want to run the wall.
Build your wall. A good wall is typically composed of 8-foot 2-by-4s nailed together so that there are vertical beams on both ends and vertical boards attached to the upper and lower 2-by-4s every 16 inches. Use your nails and hammer to construct the walls.
Nail your wall to the ceiling beams using the nails and a hammer.
Lay a board that runs parallel to the wall you've hung above the floor. Make sure that the board is online by checking it with the level run down from the wall.
Make a pencil line along the edge of the board you've laid on the floor.
Pick up the board and apply the liquid nails to the floor under your hanging wall inside the line for the board. Don't do a straight line, but instead a wavy one no thicker than the 2-by-4.
Set your 2-by-4 back down so that it lines up with the pencil line you've made on the floor. The 2-by-4 should be sitting in the liquid nails.
Place some blocks between the floating wall and the floor 2-by-4 so that the 2-by-4 has time to set in the liquid nails. This can take two to four hours.
Drill two holes in the bottom of your hanging wall 2-by-4, with the blocks still in.
Pound the spikes through the holes in your hanging wall 2-by-4 in to the one you've liquid-nailed to the floor. The wall should now be firmly in place and the floating factor allows the wall to push up with the floor should there be any buckling.
